Butch: Haney's Memory Suspiciously Good; Tiger's Swing Is "Very Robotic"

Jeff Neuman with several fun insights from a silent-until-now Butch Harmon, talking about Hank Haney's book on Tiger, which drops to the fifth spot on this week's NY Times combined bestseller list.

Highlights...

"I'm very surprised that he would write it," Harmon said this week. "I'd never do that to Tiger or Greg [Norman] or any of the guys I've been with. We get to spend a lot of time with these people, sometimes even more time than their own families. Things are said, or you see different things, and it's just—it is what it is, you just leave it where it belongs. I was really shocked to see him talk about Elin and Tiger's kids and stuff like that, I don't think that had any place in it."

He went on: "It almost seems the way he has everything documented in there—too many times and dates and places that you wouldn't come up with from memory—it's like he kept precise notes all along with writing a book in mind."

Doesn't every great swing instructor keep a diary?

As for Tiger, Butch offers his advice from afar, which probably won't be appreciated by Tiger's current instructor Sean Foley.

"For me, and I think we saw this at the Masters, he looks like he's playing 'golf- swing' and not golf," Harmon said. "In my opinion, he's very robotic. And you could see that at Augusta with all his practice swings and the double-cross shots when he's trying to fade it and he hooks it. I think everyone thought because he won at Bay Hill that he was back; well, he didn't hit it great at Bay Hill, he hit it OK. And Bay Hill's not a major."

NY Times: Non-conforming Ball Selling Well

Bill Pennington follows up on his story from last year about Polara's non-conforming ball and in his latest story reports that sales have been solid for the dreaded pill that could finally convince manufacturers that there is a market for non-conforming equipment.

About 70 percent of these same driving range golfers also said they would not use the ball. Summoning a kind of hacker moral code, they said it was against the rules. Interestingly, nearly every golfer wanted a handful of the balls anyway. As one duffer said: “Just to test out.”

Since then, the Polara golf ball has generated close to $3 million in sales, which represents more than 1.2 million nonconforming golf balls in the market. The Polara, which had modest beginnings, now is available in about 750 stores nationwide as well as online at Polaragolf.com.

Edwin Watts carries the ball in 60 of their 86 stores

Steve Claude, an Edwin Watts purchasing agent who participated in the decision to place Polara balls next to the displays of traditional, established golf balls, said the Polara ball was the only nonconforming item sold in the chain. But he said the company hoped more nonconforming equipment found its way into mainstream golf.

“Anything that gets more people playing,” Claude said. “We need to welcome everybody and grow the game. If that gets people out there, then I’m not worried about what they’re using. If they learn to love the game, in time they’ll want to try other kinds of equipment, too.”

Of course, USGA and R&A rules do not forbid anyone from making or selling non-conforming equipment.

Reports Of Rory Having Shrunk A Foot Appear Premature; Appears To Be Just Caroline's Nine-Inch Heels

The Daily Mail's Deborah Andrews on Rory McIlroy and Caroline Wozniacki taking in a day at the Newbury races with the Queen on Her Royal Worship's 80th birthday. The caption writer couldn't help noting how Caroline "towered" over her man. I was more alarmed by the length of his trousers.

They are at the top of their sporting game - and appear to be very much in love.

It seems life can't get much better for golfer Rory McIlroy and his tennis player girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki.

The couple, nicknamed 'Wozzilroy', spent the day at Newbury today and could barely keep their hands off eachother.

Rory Tweeted about the day and his delight in meeting the Queen.

The Olympic Golf Impact, Russian Edition

An unbylined Russian Television story pretty much lays out the scenario that International Golf Federation organizers and Olympic golf boosters predicted about including the game as part of the Olympics. Namely, the push to develop players in places that traditionally have not funded or paid attention to golf. Like Russia.

One of the main prospects is Vladimir Osipov. He is just 16, and would turn 21 at the Rio Olympics.

The Games will see the return of golf, after just two appearances, early in the 20th century. But to make an Olympic dream come true, players need to dig deep.

“Of course I want to go to the Olympics,” he said. “But, to give myself a chance, I need to be high up in the world rankings. So I'll have to turn pro soon and start racking up ranking points, and improve my game.”

For this season, the youngster is setting his sights on the European Amateur Team Championships in Portugal in September, and then probably the World event.

The Russian national side are fresh from a training camp in America and local trainers praised their progress as a unit.

But the sport's officials are after strong performances, not just words of approval.

“To go to the Rio Olympics, golfers will need to rocket up the world rankings,” Nikolay Afanasiev from Russia’s Golf Association said.

Foley: Lay Off My Man Tiger!

Sean Foley is fed up, mad as hell, and not going to take it anymore. At least, as much as a super nice Canadian can get angry. Asked at the end of a Sirius/XM Fairways of Life interview with Matt Adams about Woods after 20 minutes of general golf talk, the instructor came to his pupil's defense. Randall Mell reports:

“I know everyone has a job to do, and I get it,” Foley said. “But if it is about the game of golf, Tiger Woods is an extremely important part of the game, and I think everyone understands that. It has just gotten to the point where the tearing down of Tiger as a person and a golfer has become just too much. I think it is just out of hand.

“I realize it is 2012, and we have dotcoms, and you have to write five articles a day, and you run out of things to write about, but we should be in a position where we are trying to help and lift up and support a player like Tiger Woods, instead of tearing him down, because everyone in the golf industry is better off because of his existence.

“That is basically one thing I want to get out. Tiger is a wonderful person, and he is a good dude, and he lives a complex life. I think things have got to slow down, it has got to stop, the daily referendums and the criticism.”

Duly noted. And that won't happen as long as he's kicking clubs.